Comfy commute

MANILA — A comfortable commuter bus ride is almost nonexistent in Metro Manila. Most public buses have left-side seats supposedly for three passengers and right-side seats for two, except these never properly fit the right number of adults.

Many metro buses also have rows of seating that are so closely spaced to each other that passengers have to squeeze in their knees to fit.

Provincial buses try to be as comfortable as possible by having rows of two-seaters that have an extra seat that unfolds to occupy the aisle. This results in overcrowding and long unpleasant trips.

It would be torture to ride such a cramped bus to Bicol, since travel time from Manila to Legazpi, Albay often takes 12 hours. A few buses, however, have made the long travel easier by providing a restroom.

One bus line went to the extreme of providing comfort through lounge-style seats. Bicol Isarog Transport System Inc. (BITSI) introduced a bus with Lazyboy seats — two on the left side and a solo one on the right. It also has a bus with just two oversized Lazyboys to a row.

BITSI buses ply the Manila-Naga route and the lounge-style seats somehow blunt the discomfort of having to sit straight for more than 10 hours. Manila-Bicol travelers can enjoy such comfort until they can have the option of an under-five hour trip by train when the Philippine National Railways–South Railway project is completed by 2022.